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Organizers rally to boost Latino turnout in San Jose elections

Members of Latinos in Action 2020 reading their platform on February, 8, 2020. Photo by Fernanda De Velasco.

With California’s primary election less than a month away, Latinos Unidos por una Nueva America — or Latinos United for a New America (LUNA) — hosted a conference this weekend to mobilize Silicon Valley’s Latino voters this election season.

Latinos in Action 2020, an organized civic engagement project, seeks to build political power in the Latino community through inclusive engagement and by developing and promoting their priorities in the political arena, organizers said.

“We are here because it is a call to be counted, a call to be present and a call to be seen,” said Teresa Castellanos, a spokeswoman for Latinos in Action 2020.

During the conference on Saturday, the group unveiled its platform to raise awareness of the needs of the Latino community in an effort to gain support from allies and politicians.

The group’s platform covers eight topics that affect the Latino community in Silicon Valley, including working with elected officials to voice their needs, fighting to protect immigrant rights and improving education by making early learning and child care available to communities of color to close an achievement gap.

For some of the 136 attendees at the conference Saturday, comprehensive immigration reform was a top priority, including encouraging Latino voters to exercise their political rights.

“When I vote, I’m not only voting for myself,” said Hugo Marquez, a James Lick High School senior. “I’m voting to represent my parents, my sisters and the immigrant community.”

The conference also included a youth division, whose members encouraged training educators on dealing with trauma and mental health.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a high number of Latino residents face mental health issues due to fear of the immigration system. “I’m not scared, I’m even less scared when I see all these people here to say enough is enough,” said Salvador Bustamante, executive director of LUNA, in Spanish.

Housing was another major policy platform for the group. Organizers said Latino residents are increasingly facing homelessness or living on the streets. The group demanded elected officials advance housing policies for Latino families and other communities of color.

“It is unacceptable that our communities continue to be underrepresented, and that we are left with no resources because of this,” said Bustamante.

The conference also covered topics surrounding health and well-being, the justice system, economic development and cultural assets.

Assemblymember Ash Kalra, who attended the conference, said he’s looking to pass legislation that covers a lot of the issues discussed, including the justice system, workers’ rights and housing. The San Jose legislator also encouraged Latinos to vote because he said nothing is possible unless there is good representation — and that happens by voting.

“In Iowa, for the first time ever, they saw people of color rising up and showing up to these conferences,” he said. “At the caucus I attended, there were 185 people who showed up, around 180 of them were Latino. If they can show up in Iowa, we can show up in San Jose.”

Contact Fernanda De Velasco at fernanda.develascojimenez@sjsu.edu or follow @f_develasco on Twitter.

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Comments (25)

Give me more, more moreFeb 09, 2020 at 3:46PM

“According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a high number of Latino residents face mental health issues due to fear of the immigration system. “I’m not scared, I’m even less scared when I see all these people here to say enough is enough,” said Salvador Bustamante, executive director of LUNA, in Spanish.

Housing was another major policy platform for the group. Organizers said Latino residents are increasingly facing homelessness or living on the streets. The group demanded elected officials advance housing policies for Latino families and other communities of color.

“It is unacceptable that our communities continue to be underrepresented, and that we are left with no resources because of this,” said Bustamante.”

So you come here illegally, disrespecting the laws of this country and its citizens, “line jumping” to get your way ahead of everyone else who is doing it the correct and respectful way, and then say it’s “unacceptable” that you’re under represented and “left with no resources?”

Sorry, no sympathy here, due to your own choices. And sadly, this great state will continue to pander to you and, and support you, even though you do not deserve it. (Not because of your race, or country of origin, but because of your actions.)

Of the ten districts in San Jose, 5 share Latino or South America Ancestry. The current Mayor is a direct descendant of Maria Ortega, according to Herhold. Of the 11 voting members of the city council, 6 have Latino ancestry, or 54%.

According to the 2010 Census, San Jose is 33% Hispanic or Latino. So Latinos in San Jose of over represented 1.68x their population. Interestingly, Asian are 32% of the population and I would think its safe to say they are under represented.

Of course, this all demonstrates the futility of identity politics, as Latinos get/have disportionately lower grades, pay and wealth compared to Asians in San Jose. More seats on tbe city council wont get your kids better grades, better jobs, or a shot at buying a home here. Unless of course you elect Latino officials that hold your kids to higher standards, dont use licensure and minimun wage laws to make your jobs illegal, and rescind UBG/CEQA and rent control laws to free up the supply of homes. But that would be electing people for competence, not race.

Okay, but why are you comparing one struggling minority to another? That is one of the issues that we are trying to cover, form alliances between struggling communities in order to succeed and thrive together. There might be more Latino representation, but Latino communities continue to struggle to get out of the system that has been placed upon us for centuries. When you visit local high schools, there are teachers and counselors of Asian decent teaching all subjects, from English to math to science, and the majority of Latinx teachers teach Spanish. And it is not that there is a lack of teachers of Latin descent, it is that there is this social stigma that people of the Latinx community can’t teach anything other than Spanish. And guess what? this then leads to a lack of representation for our students of color, where their leaders and their superiors don’t look like them and don’t share their same struggles. Psychology shows that students then aren’t encouraged to go and pursue higher education, or teaches them that people “like us” aren’t meant for jobs “like that.” It isn’t just a matter of competence, it is a matter of race, and minorities should support each other rather than compare and compete with our struggles. But like Danny Garza said, if the rest of the community doesn’t want to respect our struggles, which they haven’t personally lived so they shouldn’t be disregarding them, then we’ll just have to prove our power by going out and voting. Strength in numbers, and after all, like you said, we have them.

You hit it right on the head, Progressive Public Sector School Teachers hold Latino students to a lower standard. Period. Identity Politicians will not help you, they can not make a house cost $250k, they can’t make your kid an engineer, and they certainly cant change the past.

Live where you can afford to own a home, hold your kids to the highest possible standards regardless of their teacher, and focus on creating as much value as you can, and you will kick butt in America no matter what your race.

SJ KulakFeb 09, 2020 at 4:02PM

Identity politics gets you no where, and more identity politics gets you less. America is not a difficult trick, but freedom comes at a price. Lie to yourself that you have no choice, and such others should not have a choice either, you will be crushed in America.

You don’t get to live where you want, you live where you can afford to.

You don’t get the grades you want, you get the grades you earn.

You don’t get the pay you want, you get a portion of the value you create.

This argument during a city council meeting was so absurd that it was laughable.

Ballots are mailed out a month in advance. We open the envelope, pull out the ballot, mark our selections on the ballot, put the ballot back into the “no postage necessary” envelope, seal the envelope, sign the envelope on the appropriate line, then put the envelope out in the outgoing mail or hand it to the mail carrier or take it to the nearest post office to mail.

I’m reading this article and I see what an amazing thing this is doing for the latinx community. I believe that people who are under represented need this and for those saying that you give what you provide to the community clearly have never struggled in their life and should keep their privilege to themselves.

Transparency and Accountability are Needed in San JoseFeb 10, 2020 at 1:34PM

I agree this is a good thing the Latino community is doing. Anytime, anyone encourages everyone to vote and participate in the process — that is all good. But, your comment is a bit hypocritical because on one hand you do not want people to be prejudged, but on the other you are prejudging with the assumption that anyone who disagrees must be “privileged.” The hypocrisy on all of these message boards is astounding, and not in a good way. It really shows how far we need to go as a community to be more united, in my opinion.

Identity politics runs rampant on the SJ City Council and I’m sick of it. When the Mayor offered a suggestion or fact about voting, one Latina Councilwoman said to the Mayor, “You’re a white guy.” I nearly fell off of my chair.

“ I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Martin Luther King, Jr. I agreed then and I still agree today.

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